Sign structure



P 1953 J. A. HOWENSTINE 2,651,865

SIGN STRUCTURE Filed May 9, 1952 IN VEN TOR. c/A MES A HOWE/V5 T/NEPatented Sept. 15,- 1953 .sSIGNaSTRUQ'I-URE filamcs Ar-Howenstine, Lima,hio, assignor-to ZNconli roducts, Inc., Lima,'0hio,= a corporationgpplicatign lylay .9, 1952', Serial N 0. 286,955

:ThiS invention relatesto a sign; having-ahousing andan'illuminated'face plate and an'illuminatedring or halo surrounding thefaceplate and to means for attaching suchf'illuminatedface plate andhalo ring to thefisigrr housing.

An object of this inventionis to ,provide a ring which when"illuminatedproduces-a1 luminous ring or-halo around an "illuminated'iace plate ofasign.

A further object of this" invention; -is;to; provide an improvedmeansfor-lighting a" halo ring.

A further object of this inventicm-is-"to provide improved means ofattaching arhalo ring and a face plate to the housing of a: sign.

A furtheroblfictofthis invention 'is to provide an improved means" forattaching the face plate of a sign to its housing, which is soconstructed that said attaching means may readily release the face:platewhcmrequire'dfor servicing.

A further object of this invention is tqprovide a readily releasablespring biased fastening for a face plate of a sign.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will in partbe apparent and will in part be obvious from the following detaileddescription, and the drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a view in front elevation showing a sign constructed inaccordance with an embodiment of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in section taken along a line II--1'I in Fig, 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view in front elevation showing the sign with theface plate thereof removed;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a spring clip-nut, which forms apart of the sign; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a rigid clip which forms a part ofthe sign.

In the following detailed description and the drawing, like referencecharacters indicate like parts.

As indicated in Fig. 2, the sign comprises a cup-shaped backing memberor housing I0. Housing is formed of opaque material such as sheet metalor the like. The mouth of housing I0 is provided with an outwardlyprojecting border flange I 2 to which a halo ring l3 and a face plate 14are attached.

Flange I2 is provided with radially spaced pairs of apertures l5 and I5.Apertures l5 and I5 receive bolts I 6 and I6, respectively, by means ofwhich the halo ring and face plate are connected to the housing.

Each bolt l6 projects through an opening I! :2 inrthe halo ringan'dmcarrieswa spacersleeveWB and a rigid hookxis. Details(if-construction of h0'0k19.,are showrriniFigifi. Hook 19 includes abase portion2 provided" with a'threaded opening22. Opening ZZ-receivesthe threaded-end of bolt 5,. and when bolt l6*:is drawn tight, spacersleeve 1 8 holds the halo ring against backing memberfiange- I 2 whilethe base" portion of hook l9 projects outwardly,v asshown in Fig. 2. Atthe ,endof base portion" 2 l, hook I9- is provided withxa-returnibend 23which-engages an edge, of" the face plate. "The hook l9 forms both a nutforbolt l6 and a'olipfor' 'holding one-edge of'the' face plate.

Each of the bolts 1 6". projects through one of the" perforations 15" in-body member *flange' l 2 and' through anopeningMin-halo ring I3. Eachbolt 16*is threadeddnto' an end of a-spring clip 26. Details ofconstruction of =spring cli '25 are 'shownin F'igxi. SpringfiG-includesa coiled portion 2 I -in--which-"the threaded endof bolt I 6is--received. The-coiled portion forms a-s rin nut-forbolt 16. "fineend-of the coiled -portion 21 is turned outwardly and then return bent,as indicated at 28, to form a spring biased hook. Each hook 28 engagesthe face plate at the side opposite one of the rigid clips l9. When itis desired to remove the face plate to make the interior of the signaccessible, spring biased hooks 28 are bent upwardly, as shown in Fig.1, to release the upper edge of the face plate, whereupon the face platemay be removed from the sign.

The face plate is formed of suitable translucent material bearingappropriate indicia, as indicated at 29 in Fig. 1. The face plate may beof the type generally shown in my co-pending application Serial Number254,481, filed November 2, 1951. The face plate may be formed of amethyl methacrylate resin. Indicia 29 are painted on the plate with anappropriate translucent paint.

The halo ring, as shown in Fig. 2, is a dished member having an aperture3| in the central portion thereof. At the aperture, the dished memberterminates in a face 32 which is perpendicular to a cone coaxial withthe backing member and halo ring. Halo ring I3 is lighted by a circularlamp 33. As shown, lamp 33 is disposed in the cone already mentioned, sothat face 32 receives light directly from lamp 33. As shown in Fig. 2,the lamp is supported on posts 33', which are attached to backing member[0. The lamp is attached to the posts by means of wires 33". The wiresextend around hooks in the posts lamp in engagement with the posts. Thelamp may be of the common fluorescent type and is lighted by anappropriate electrical circuit schematically indicated at 33" in Fig. 3.v The halo ring is formed of appropriate light piping transparentmaterial, such as a clear methyl methacrylate'resin, so that the lightreceived by face 32 is piped through the halo ring. The halo ring isprovided with a peripheral flange 34 at its outer edge. Light is pipedthrough the halo ring to the flange 34. The flange 34 terminates in alight-bleeding face 36. The lightbleeding face is forwardly facing andmay be roughened so that light reaching face 36 illuminates face 36 toform a bright ring or halo surrounding the face plate. The lamp 33illuminates both the face plate l4 and the light-bleeding face 36, andthe sign is provided with both an illuminated face plate and anilluminated ring spaced from and surrounding the face plate, both ofwhich areilluminated by the same lamp 33. The sign described above andillustrated in the drawing is subject to structural modification withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Havingdescribed my invention, what I clai as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

l. A sign which comprises an opaque cupshaped housing having anoutwardly projecting peripheral flange, a dishedv member of transparentlight piping material secured by its base to said housing flange, saiddished member having an aperture in the central portion thereof, theedge of said aperture being perpendicular to a cone coaxial with thehousing and dished member, a light source in said cone so that said facereceives light from said light source, a translucent face plate attachedto the housing and to the dished member and overlying the aperture inthe dished member to be illuminated by said light source, and aperipheral flange on the dished member terminating outboard of the faceplate in a forwardly facing light-bleeding face to form an illuminatedring outboard of the face plate.

2. A sign which comprises a cup-shaped opaque housing having anoutwardly projecting peripheral flange, a flat ring of transparentlight-transmitting material overlying and attached to said flange, alamp inside the housing, an annular integral flange on the inboard sideof the ring, said inboard ring flange terminating in a light receivingface directed toward the lamp to receive illumination therefrom, anannular integral flange on the outboard side of the ring projectingoutwardly and forwardly thereof, said last mentioned flange terminatingin a forwardly facing light-bleeding face, and a transparent ,face plateoverlying the mouth of the housing and the ring and attached thereto,the face plate being of lesser diameter than the last mentioned flange,whereby the face plate and the lightbleeding face are both illuminatedby the lamp.

3. A sign in accordance with claim 2, characterized by the fact that thehousing, ring and face plate are attached together by a plurality ofclips spaced around the edge of the housing flange, each of said clipscomprising a return bend engaging the face plate, at least one of theclips comprising a bolt projecting through openings in the housingflange and in the ring, and a helical spring mounted on the threaded endof the bolt, one end of the spring bearing on the ring to hold the ringagainst the flange of the housing, the other end of the springprojecting outwardly of the bolt and return bent to form a resilientclip for holding the edge of the face plate.

JAMES A. HOWNSTINE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

